Soak Mix

[BUUZBEE]

I dont read too much on the forums about people giving their birds a soak mix. It is an excellent food for them, and totally easy to make too.

Here is what I use:

1/4 cup of each (dried, found by the rice at the store) DONT use black beans, the whole mix goes grey!
peas
lentles
white beans (small)
white rice
wild rice
popcorn kernals (regular old popcorn you would use in a pot)
you can add other beans, or lentles, barley etc. as you prefer
Cinnamon sticks


soak overnight, then drain & rinse the next day. Put in a pot and cover about 1 inch over with warm water. slowly simmer for about 1 hour.

drain & rinse again, then cool. for easy meals, put in ice trays and freeze, then pop them out & put in a freezer bag. Pull out as many as you need, and defrost on the counter for about 15 minutes.

As you saw with the "feeding time" pics, they LOVE IT!!! hope yours do to!

(a sugestion, for first timers, try getting a small bag of the "bean soup mix" it will have a lot of beans, hopefully the peas etc. that way just add the rice, and you dont have to buy a ton until they get totally hooked to it!)

[bird nerd]

thanks for the info. :) sounds healthy i'll try it one day instead of puttin bubbles on an all seed diet.

[BUUZBEE]

they seem to take to it really easily too, good luck, they will love it!

[Budgiekin]

Gosh, sounds good enough to eat for my own self!;)

[BUUZBEE]

i've tried it, it needs salt & pepper, lol

[redgirl]

Thanks for info Anna

[pal0m1n0]

I am going to try making the mix. I went to the Bulk Barn and bought red lentils, soft wheat kernels (wheatberries), white popping corn, small navy beans and split yellow peas. I already have the rices. I hope they like it, especially my parent birds. :)

[Bea]

I do that! :D All the budgies love it and so does Cookie.

[pal0m1n0]

I made the soak mix and they are eating it, so thank you. :) :) :) At least now if I go away I can at least count on the rest of the family to thaw a few of these and put them out. :) The flock has pretty much become insistent on getting more than just seeds everyday. Especially Oscar who scolds and keeps flying at you until food is put out or changed. :)
Now can I pretty much use that and seeds and not worry too much about other stuff everyday?

[pal0m1n0]

Buuzbee, thank you so much for posting this recipe. It has been a lifesaver. I don't think I could keep up with providing food fast enough without it. :)

[BUUZBEE]

Glad they like it! i originally made it for my conure about 15 years ago, tried it with the budgies & they loved it!

with the bigger birds, add bigger beans! I have been adding a little more peas to the mix lately, gives it more of a green color, not so blah brown!

[Bea]

Sorry to bring up an old post but could you cook it in a rice cooker? I assume it would work just as well.

[pal0m1n0]

I don't see why it wouldn't. You may need to experiment a bit. I like to make a lot at once and I don't think a rice cooker would hold it all. Although, some rice cookers use a teflon coated pot. I don't think I would want to cook my bird food in one.

[Bea]

Our rice cooker/veggie steamer is made from this plastic type stuff so no teflon - i'm gonna try it tonight.

[Donna]

I wonder if a person could make a lot of Soak Mix (once the Budgie decides he loves it) and then pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it? Once the cubes are frozen, you could empty them into a large plastic baggie and store them in the freezer. Then you could pull out a couple of cubes at a time, and feed it to your Budgie. The rest could remain in the freezer until next time.

A person would have to of course thaw the cubes first, (before feeding it to their Budgies) or stick it in the microwave for a few seconds, but it would sure be handy to make it this way and then nothing would go to waste if you didn't use it up right away.

Buuzbee, have you ever done this - and do you think it would work, okay?

Donna

[Bea]

I think she has :P

drain & rinse again, then cool. for easy meals, put in ice trays and freeze, then pop them out & put in a freezer bag. Pull out as many as you need, and defrost on the counter for about 15 minutes.

[Donna]

Ooops! I guess I didn't go back and read all of the posts. When I read to buy a small bag of soup mix - and that way the larger quantity wouldn't go to waste, I just assumed that Buuzbee meant that you would end up throwing it out if your Budgies did not eat it fast enough.

Oh well, I guess the answer then is - "YES." :D

Donna

[pal0m1n0]

There is still waste, but I am not sure how much of it is actually food or "husk". Anyway, I am okay with that. I pour hot water onto the cubes to thaw them. I keep hearing that microwaving may not be as safe as we have been told. Hot water works fine and is easy, so I go with that.

I would really like to know if there is any truth to what I have read about microwave ovens.

[Bea]

I've just seen my first frozen cubes of soak mix and i have named them "rice cubes". :laughing: LMAO!! I amuse myself so much!! I was running around the house showing everyone my "rice cubes", they all rolled their eyes at me.

Rice cooker worked well for this, i was able to steam veggies for my dinner and cook the soak mix at the same time with the same cooking appliance and not have to check on it - now that's my style of cooking!! :P I grossly over estimated how much i made though so i've got enough "rice cubes" to last a life time. Tomorrow i'll take over a sandwich bag full to give to the nice people across the road who have recently got a tiel. :P They can help me get through the "rice cubes" (ok i'll stop with the rice cubes now, lmao). I also added some ground cinnamon to the mix for a little flavour. Next time i'll try some ground chilli's - apparently birds love spicy food!

[BUUZBEE]

Great additions your thinking of bea... thats too funny, i was reading either birdtalk or birdsusa, and there was a big article about soak mixes, and they added broken up cinnamon sticks. i dont know how the budges would like it, but im sure the conures would. I have to go to the bird store to get chillies etc. so i will add them next time too!

on the teflon... why cant you cook in a teflon cooker? its not toxic when used, its only the fumes when its overheated right???

[pal0m1n0]

There has been some discussion in the news that the pans are actually putting minute quantities of teflon in our food when we eat. I think studies have shown most people have teflon in their systems. Another source of loose teflon is the stain resistant pants. Teflon is used in a lot more places than you would have realized.

[Bea]

Mmmm....just a note: cinnamon is a fantastic idea to add!! :P It will leave your birds smelling like doughnuts. :laughing:

[alicia]

lol bea they will taste umm umm good at tim hortens lol

[spidergirl]

have have read a few times not to feed white rice to birds.

here is something i just dug up from a pet bird forum:

"quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is white rice really fatal for birds?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's not toxic, if that's what you are asking. But white rice is almost completely void of any nutrients and is essentially empty calories. Any bird who eats a staple of white rice over an extended period of time will become severely malnourished and eventually will die."

and something from a nutritional health site:

"If you feed your pets lots of white rice for example, you will end up giving them diabetes. In fact, if you're asking a veterinarian who has been practicing for twenty or thirty years, they will tell you that they have recently seen a skyrocketing increase in the number of cases of diabetes in dogs. That's due to changes in the nutritional makeup of cheaper dog food products today that are using a lot of white rice as a filler (because white rice is cheap and makes the dog foods more profitable). But just as in human beings, white rice causes diabetes and obesity because it's a refined carbohydrate offering little more than "empty calories."

i realize the latter refers to dogs & humans, but could this not also be applied to birds?
does anyone else know if white rice should be replaced with brown?

[BUUZBEE]

Then dont add it :) you can change it anyway you want.

i personally have used this for 15+ years and never had any ill effects

[pal0m1n0]

I always used the uncle ben's converted rice for myself. Lately I have been using Basmati rice, but I put a mixture of the wild and brown rices into the mix.

I just made a fresh batch today, but I was wondering about the rinsing and draining for the final step, I think I used too much cereal grain or cooked it for too long because the liquid left was thick and mushy.

[BUUZBEE]

i switch from jasmin (smells divine) to basmati to wild. whatever i have in the house :)

[JanLynn]

I've filed this recipe away for use for my birdies soon! I'm still trying to get them to take more pellets vs. seed. I think maybe I'll give this a try.

Could other veggies, like carrot and broccoli be added to this?

[BUUZBEE]

sure you can :)

[JanLynn]

Thanks, buuz! I wonder if this would help my birds learn to like the veggies/fruits a bit more.

I'm concerned about my birds' nutrition, obviously. I just got my first budgie in September, added a second in October and ended up with a clutch of babies in December! Talk about crash course. I didn't know how to tell the sexes when we purchased our birds. I just got the ones I thought were prettiest.

[pal0m1n0]

Have you ever posted pictures of your birds?

[Neely]

:) Sounds like a wonderful idea.
It makes me hungry. :p

[spidergirl]

thank you thank you thank you!
my flock finally eats something other than seed. (they refuse to eat veggies darn it.)
they go crazy for soaked seed, but i've never tried your mix.
i used brown & wild rice, lentils, barley & quinoa. thay all absolutely love it!
great idea with the ice cube tray also. i bought some today & it's going to be so handy not having to do this every other day :)

[BUUZBEE]

you can try adding a pack of frozen veggies too, they might accidently eat some lol

[misslinda]

I'm soaking the soup mix tonight, and can hardly wait to see if Kiwi will partake of it. He will eat broccoli and red leaf lettuce, but so far refuses to eat "Beak appetite".
After cooking and draining, do you mash the Soak Mix up, or leave it as is?
Linda in CA:rolleyes:

[Kai]

Now this is something I will definitely try. I'm not much of a cook but even I can soak beans. I love that it can be frozen! To the grocery store I go.

[Red-Raven]

DONT use black beans, the whole mix goes grey!


I use canned black beans and just rinse beans in a colander before adding to mix.

[BUUZBEE]

I use canned black beans and just rinse beans in a colander before adding to mix.

LOL... that might help. I personally dont use canned beans in the mix due to the sodium though.

[Pippin's mom]

Thanks Anna, what a great idea!:D I have cooked beans for my birds before, but never a soak. I have plenty of ice cube trays from when I made my own baby food for our boys. So I'm off to make some rice cubes with cinnamon so I'll have healthy Budgie donuts.. LOL! You crack me up Bea.

[Cherrysbudgies]

Thanks so much ... I'm soaking it now ... hopefully BB will eat it he wont touch anything other than seeds ... or my coffee ... ha ha .. he keeps trying to drink my coffee have to watch the little guy closely when he's out at playtime

maybe I'll try putting veggies in my coffee cup and see if he tries it ... ha ha

[tstmard]

Thought I'd "bump" this since I think it's such a great thing and we have so many new members who might not of seen it yet. I'm getting ready to soak some up again tonight. My birds absolutly LOVE it. I've also found you can grate up some carrots and add to either the top or bottom of the mix before you freeze it. It's a bit of a time saver sometimes to already have the carrot ready to go. I've also done a quick soak mix verson of just boiling split peas, lentils, rice, and a cinnamon stick. Since none of those things do you really have to soak.

[BUUZBEE]

Thanks for the bump and glad you and your fids enjoy it so much! There are so many variations to be made, so its great!

[softie]

I've been reading this article on sprouts and how to grow them. How would you compare growing sprouts and making the soak mix?

I'm interested in both, so I may as well end up making both! :D

[BUUZBEE]

What i dont like about sprouts is the fact they spoil quickly, but i'm used to freezing the soak mix :) lol

[Pippin's mom]

My gang love it too!:D So do I its so easy and you can make up a big batch and freeze it, plus add whatever you want to it.

[Pitchii☆]

oh sounds so good :twothumbs:...... but I have such a hard time finding beans (lentils and the like) here in my rural part of Japan:(

Can they have oats? Basically all I can find is oats, popcorn, and Japanese black beans, azuki beans...
Glad to hear cinnamon is ok ,will try that soon! Are all chilli beans ok? Like, dried red chilli is ok?
I have green beans (string beans?) in the freezer but I read on a Japanese budgie site that those beans are not ok???

Pitchii loves mashed peas!
6059

[Will]

Sounds like a great mix and easy to make :D

where can you find the cinnamon sticks and with the popcorn kernels do you mean the kernels that dont pop when you make popcorn?

[Gilraen Took]

It'd probably be better to just buy a bag/jar of the kernels. It still cooks them when they don't pop, and if it is microwave bagged popcorn, that stuff has some nasties in it(though it tastes oh-so-good. . . You'd think that working at a movie theatre for over 4 years that I'd HATE it in all forms!)

So is this a supplement, or a seed mix/pellet substitute? I probably missed it on the page somewhere since I didn't really read it all the way(oops! Am planning on going back and reading it all now though ^_^) I'm still thinking about using a seed and sprout mix(the sprouts should replace most of the veggies they refuse to touch :D) About how much does each budgie eat in a day?

EDIT: I haven't really been giving them cooked anything(other than when Rydia eats some of my dinner after it has been cooked), but the teflon question was never really answered completely. . . My roommates have ALL teflon stuff(am saving up to replace it piece by piece, the only issue is them refusing to WASH DISHES, and whatever stainless gets ruined by the bloody left on food won't be replaced with stainless by THEM.) Also, my phone is in the grave(literally -_-) but most of the stainless things I have seen at walmart have some sort of coating, which I forget the name of, is that safe? Although I could(and am planning on getting!) a single stainless pot for myself and use it in the meanwhile to cook for them in. . .

AND. . . I've looked at the bean soup mixes and they say to cook them for 15 hours. Not just 1. Is that something the bag had wrong, or is it just that with some of the thicker beans you need to? I've been planning on eating more beans myself, but if I really have to be cooking for 15 hours a day, forget it!